“He (God) accounted it to him (Abraham) as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6)

It was counted to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6)

This morning God took me on a spiritual journey to teach me how to seek His righteousness. 

He began by reminding me that Abram, later named Abraham, who is considered the father of faith was considered by God as righteous because Abraham believed God.(He took God at His word.)

“Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6 MEV)

Next the Lord took me to Genesis 3:1 where the old serpent asked Eve, “Has God said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” 

Here God showed me that Adam’s fall was because he and Eve made the choice to not believe what God’s had told them.  Hence, Adam became unrighteous.

Also, the name Adam means mankind. This is where we too become unrighteous when we make the choice not to take God at His word.

Righteousness means faith, or believing every word God says. However; faith must have action or it is dead. (James 2:17) “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

Who and what we believe and act on determines where we place our faith.Where we place our faith makes either righteous or unrighteous.

Matthew 6:33 tells us to, “… seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” (The benefits of Psalm 103:3)

Colossians 1:13 says the moment we accept Jesus as our Savior, God takes us out of the kingdom of darkness and places us unto the Kingdom of Jesus. However; just as the Children of Israel struggled in the dessert learning to listen, trust and act on what God said, we too fall into this very problem. 

When I say “believe His word”, I mean you come to the place you really believe He will do exactly what He says He will do, whether you see it or not, and we act on what He has told us to do. Acting in faith is what makes our faith alive.

God never reacts to our whines, cries or the desperation of our circumstances. He acts on our faith (trust and belief) in His word. 

When God inspired John to write 3 John 2, God calls us His beloved, He means it. He goes on to say, “I wish, above all things, that you prosper, be in health as your soul prospers,” He really means it. He is pulling for us to come to Him, believe and receive.

Our soul consists of our mind, our will and our emotions. Our emotions need healing. This comes through forgiveness and changing our old ways of thinking to having the mind of Christ. Having His mind is thinking the way Jesus thinks. It only comes from knowing, in an intimate way, God’s deep love for us and listening for His directions. 

We see this love through Christ on the cross. Jesus took on His body every sickness, every disease, hurt, heartache, pain and sorrow we will ever experience so that, if we desire, we can give them to Him in faith.

Jesus took the chastisement (severe criticism; rebuke or strong reprimand, corporal punishment; and beatings) whether deserved or not, so that we can receive His peace.

He took my poverty away and has given me access to His riches- all the cattle on a thousand hills, all the silver and all the gold is mine to access through faith, if I can trust Him to be my Jehovah-jireh (the Lord who provides our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus), He will show us where to cast our nets even if we’ve fished there before and found nothing.

Jesus also took my sins, both known and unknown, and paid the price.

Sin is high treason against the Crown. It is punishable by death. He took the death sentence in my place.

As you search the scriptures, you will find more of this divine exchange in the covenant we have entered into with Christ.

The New Testament puts it this way, “. . . For they know His voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers” (John 10: 4b-5). When we hear, believe and act on the voice of Jesus we become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

As Jesus' sheep we will not follow the steps of the first Adam when we make this most important decision to believe and live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. They are written in the Holy Bible. 

This is living Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight."

Mostly, He tells us to walk in love and forgiveness, being kind to one another, knowing we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Salvation comes to each of us through our belief and acceptance of Christ's love on the cross, and asking Him to forgive us of our sin.

As you take time to commune with the Lord today, meditate on all that He has done for you because He loves you with His whole heart. 

Search the scriptures to find out what He has to say about your situation. Believe Him and stand on His word. It takes practice to hear the spoken word of God in your heart. Open your heart and listen. He still speaks today. He has not changed. Amen!

Blessings on your day!

Karen